Rebuilding the Pipeline

[chamrocck]

We have not been able to perform consistently well with our OL for awhile now. It seems we have been the benefactor of having some great RB's that simply have a DNA with extra drive and will...Rex and now Ameer. No one would ever doubt their fearlessness. We have done a good job recruiting RB's and other skill positions on offense...but think of the next level we would achieve with a great OL. What do you think this has to do with? Coaching? Not winning recruiting battles? Strength and conditioning?

 

What will it take to bring this great tradition back? How can we pull in multiple blue chippers or get the current roster to perform much better? Prior to Randy Gregory my biggest want was a pass rushing DE to disrupt the opponent's offense because in turn a player like that will make our other defenders more productive. Our defense is looking better. Remember just a bit ago how we could not get any pressure and played paddy-cake contain the whole game? Well the OL is my next "fix it" unit. What is our depth looking like here? Any studs coming up next year or recruits to get excited about?

[NebraskaHarry]

Yeah we're gonna have a couple stud guards in Farmer and Foster. So that's a start.

[Boomhauer]

We have two stud lineman committed for the 2016 class.

[Husker_x]

The O-line is a hard group to judge without the credentials and technical know-how to understand what you're seeing every down. It does seem pretty clear we could use a talent upgrade at center. Until then, settle on one and stop messing with the rotation. The last thing we need to do with an offense that can't reliably execute a snap in Week 10 is keep meddling with the chemistry. This season we are stuck with what we have. This bi-week is our last chance to make any meaningful long-term adjustments to the personnel before we play the last and most important leg of the year.

 

Looking ahead, our recruiting has been fine. We have a lot of promising talent on the roster and more on the way. Scheme is my biggest concern, which goes to coaching. When you have 4th and Goal from the half-inch line and you're in shotgun, it sort of obviates that whole "people who criticize Beck think they're smarter than Beck" argument, because you don't have to be smart to know THOU SHALT NOT DO THAT.

[Bowfin]

No one is a "stud" at the college level coming out of high school. They have the "potential" to become a great college lineman.

 

The Texas Longhorns have two five-star high school "stud" running backs right now...and they would trade BOTH of them for either Newby or Cross in a heartbeat.

 

So I think the bigger question is, "Do we have the coaches that can refine whatever comes out of the pipeline?"

[Count 'Bility]

My opinion is that we have a serious conflict of ideas/philosophy between our OC, Oline coaches, and the actual skillset of our olineman.

[True2tRA]

My opinion is that we have a serious conflict of ideas/philosophy between our OC, Oline coaches, and the actual skillset of our olineman.

 

Yep.

[The Dude]

Been hearing about these "stud" linemen for years now. Jake Cotton was considered an All-American by the resident "insiders" long before he ever played a down.

 

We'll see.

 

It's been well over a decade since we've had a dominant offensive line, with no indication that Bo is committed to fix that.

 

Build and maintain a dominate offensive line and most of the criticisms about playcalling vanish.

[Hedley Lamarr]

Our current upperclassmen on the OL aren't anything special. Things would look different with Tyler Moore at OT though. Our starting OL looks like this.

 

LT converted TE

LG 2 star DE

C walk on itty bitty

RG mid level 3 star

RT 4 star from St Cecilia in Hastings, NE

[Husker_x]

Our current upperclassmen on the OL aren't anything special. Things would look different with Tyler Moore at OT though. Our starting OL looks like this.

 

LT converted TE

LG 2 star DE

C walk on itty bitty

RG mid level 3 star

RT 4 star from St Cecilia in Hastings, NE

 

That's all well and good, but high school players often find new positions in D-1 college football and the star system takes into account very little; for instance, it doesn't pair star level with intended offensive system.

 

This definitely isn't me going to bat for Beck or our system. As a personal preference, I prefer Wisconsin-style power running better than our jack-of-all-trades whatever it is. But yeah, we are due for some upgrades in the next year or two.

[Hedley Lamarr]

I still don't think Dobson has OL training where it needs to be from an S&C perspective

[SouthLincoln Husker]

Its tough to build the pipeline without a few anchers each year.

2011 - Reeves & Moore (left)

2012 - Thurston

2013 - Knevel & Finnin (Juco)

2014 - Foster, Farmer & Gates

2015 - Mirko

2016 - Raridon & Brokop

 

We moved Cotton out & Garrison in. I still think our weight program is an issue. But overall, I expect things to change starting next year as our 2014 class begins to work for playing time.

[Count 'Bility]

I still don't think Dobson has OL training where it needs to be from an S&C perspective

This is actually becoming pretty obvious. And it falls perfectly in line with my earlier comment that we have a conflict of philosophies. I dont think the physical development of our lineman is bad, but in terms of the kind of offense we run, it is. We *appear* to be focusing our lineman training on a more size and power/aggressive type of game, while the offense we run relies on agility and quickness of lineman. The ability to move more lateral as opposed to straight ahead, and it's clearly obvious, esp against better competition, our guys are no where fit enough for it. And like I said, Garrison and Cotton are power guys with power backgrounds in both playing and coaching, and Beck is a passing guy. A finesse guy. i know for a fact and it's pretty clear as well just from watching, that Bo wants this offense modeled after what Malzan is doing at Auburn, but Beck cant seem to get out of his own way in terms of trying to finesse teams. And our line is not built for it. If we played like Auburn on a consistent basis, our line I would think would look much much better. It's more of a straight ahead attack.

[Warrior10]

Its tough to build the pipeline without a few anchers each year.

2011 - Reeves & Moore (left)

2012 - Thurston

2013 - Knevel & Finnin (Juco)

2014 - Foster, Farmer & Gates

2015 - Mirko

2016 - Raridon & Brokop

 

We moved Cotton out & Garrison in. I still think our weight program is an issue. But overall, I expect things to change starting next year as our 2014 class begins to work for playing time.

Don't forget Gaylord/Decker in 2015. Our last couple classes have the potential

[NUpolo8]